Obama's "Otherness" Somehow Still An Issue

Today the New York Times had an article about the increase in people who are unabashedly delusional. It cites, of all sources, the Globe, to point out that some people think that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States and he uses a fake social security card to pretend that he was. The sad part? People actually believe this kind of stuff. A Pew research study showed that the number of people who think that Obama is a Muslim has increased from 12% during the campaign to 18% today. Among conservative Republicans, 34% think that Obama prays to Allah.

So who is to blame for this "phenomenon?" One would start with logical culprits: tainted drinking water, paint contaminated with lead, increasing levels of mercury in fish. The Times angle? It's the Obama Administration's fault: "Some allies say the White House could be doing a better job." The White House's response? We tried, but Twitter undermined us. YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME. Now I don't know whose side I want to be on (yes, I ended that sentence in a preposition; maybe all of this stupidity is rubbing off on me. For.)

The real cause of this? Individuals who cannot accept the fact that someone is in the White House who does not look like them. They do not like his performance as president (a fair criticism) and instead of articulating what they do not like about it, they defer to the lowest common denominator and attack his "otherness." Has Obama been a great communicator? Not of late. But let's brainstorm other issues that are more important than his religion or his birthplace (both of which are proven to be what he says they are):

• Jobs
• National security
• The two wars we are currently fighting
• Jobs
• Midterm elections
• 9/11 health bill
• Jobs

Even with all of these important national issues, people still choose to discuss Obama's religion and birthplace. Not only that, but the New York Times devotes space to it! I don't care how many times Obama prays a day, and I really do not care where other people think he was born. I do care about what he does to ensure proper action is taken on the issues I mentioned above. Everyone is slapping each other on the back over Iraq, where the last combat brigade is leaving. The asterisk? 50,000 troops will remain in that country, where we should never have been in the first place. No one seems to know how to jump-start the economy. The 9/11 health bill was voted down in the House. And what are we talking about? Obama's religion and birthplace. Unbelievable.

Photo - Photoshop